National Basketball Association
Utah 112, L.A. Lakers 97
When: 6:00 PM ET, Sunday, April 8, 2018
Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Officials: #48 Scott Foster, #33 Sean Corbin, #18 Matt Boland
Attendance: 18997
Donovan Mitchell scored 28 points, collected nine rebounds and dished out eight assists to help the Utah Jazz clinch a playoff spot with a 112-97 victory over the host Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.

Joe Ingles added 22 points and 10 assists for the Jazz. Jae Crowder chipped in 18 points and Royce O' Neale added 15.

Utah (47-33) trails the Portland Trail Blazers (48-32) by a game for the Western Conference's third seed. The Jazz are one game in front of the New Orleans Pelicans, San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder, all 46-34.

The Jazz had 35 assists on 42 baskets.

Josh Hart scored 25 points to lead Los Angeles. Tyler Ennis added 22 points while Julius Randle chipped in 17. The Lakers got swept 3-0 in the season series with the Jazz and have lost seven straight to Utah overall.

The Lakers played without three of their usual starters as Kyle Kuzma, Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram all sat out.

Utah overwhelmed the short-handed Lakers early in the first half. The Jazz opened the game on a 19-4 run highlighted by a trio of baskets from Ingles.

Los Angeles chipped away at the deficit and cut it to 32-30 on a jumper from Ennis early in the second quarter. Rudy Gobert threw down an alley-oop layup on the next possession to keep the Lakers from erasing Utah's lead entirely. The play sparked a 13-3 run that culminated in a pair of Crowder 3-pointers and a 45-33 Jazz lead.

The Lakers had another rally left in them. They whittled the lead down before halftime and then Alex Caruso cut the deficit to 55-52 on back-to-back baskets early in the third quarter.

Utah clamped down again. Ingles drove for a dunk and then made back-to-back baskets a few minutes later to push the Jazz's lead back to double digits. His fourth -- and final basket -- of the quarter came on a 3-pointer that put Utah ahead 69-58.

The Jazz pulled away for good when they scored on five of six possessions to open the fourth quarter, giving Utah a 94-73 lead.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Utah   L.A. Lakers
Donovan Mitchell 28 Scoring Josh Hart 25
Joe Ingles 10 Assists Julius Randle 4
Derrick Favors 13 Rebounds Julius Randle 7
Donovan Mitchell 7 Free Throws Made Julius Randle 5
Rudy Gobert 2 Steals Tyler Ennis 3
Rudy Gobert 1 Blocks Josh Hart 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Utah 112 50.6 13-36 15-22 35 45 4 8 18
L.A. Lakers 97 39.8 5-25 18-22 20 44 4 8 14
Upcoming Games
  • L.A. Lakers will play their next game at home against Houston. The Lakers have a W/L % of .486 after a win and .378 after a loss.
  • Utah will play their next game at home against Golden State. The Jazz have a W/L % of .638 after a win and .515 after a loss.